Television synchronizing system



Sept. 5, 1950 R. B. DOME 2,521,504

TELEVISION ssmcmzomzme SYSTEM Filed Dec. 11, 1946' INTERMEDIATE F g l FREQUENCY FREQUENCY z man-12R DETEFTOR punm RE 7 8 --CATHODE AMPLIFIER RAY TUBE 6 MIXER 4 -10 05ClLLATOR- I noglzomex. szusmn'oa LR PULS 5 V0 LTAG E nomzfirm SYNCHRONIZING EQUALIZING svucunomzme EOUALIZING Fig.2.

L SLOTTED VERTICAL HORIZONTAL SYNCHRONIZING' PUL ES FULSBB PULSE PULSES To VERTICAL v SCANNING GENERATOR To HORIZONTAL SCANNING GENERATOR His Attorney.

' Patented Sept. 5; y

chronization of a horizontal. scanning gen rater I t 'of a fundamentalrrequency,i-*spaeedequalizing siredto synchronize the sweepcircu-its of a 1;'a i ;li

' "despite changesi-n' receiver condition povversup TELEVISION"SYNCHRONIZING'SYSTEM; I itobertflfljome, Brillgeport, jccn'n,, assigncrfto V General Electiic'jCompa'ny, "a "corpo ation-6r,

NewYoirk I Application December 11, lil ifitserial No. 7-1 5361 .Y ,1: a

w 5 Claims. '(c1.11 -t9:5 j

My invention relates to television receivers and,- I fit is in particular, to circuits for controlling the syfrv d oii atelevis l ft eat 'ii'nmuneto' fimse'mou ve'd 5 ,ceivedsignal. 1 I 1, st na her, objeet'ormy "'nvent iiinproved orizon als nchmniz n teievis onreeeive actuate? of a television receiver. It is the prim-ar of my invention' to .g roviae aflnevvnland ini continuous and stable horizontal synchio X, control for atelevision receiver. I

In conventional television broadcasting-s ts tems, there is radiated from a transmitter and received at the antenna-off a receiver a composite video signal which comprises a carrier wave ,modulated in amplitude with both video signals and 3 synchronizing pulses, the synchronizing pulses combrising horizontal synchronizing pulses a pulseshaving aireque'ncy twice that of the, horizontal synchronizing pulses, and l-spacedvertical synchronizing pulses which are interrupted at the rate twice .the frequencyof the horizontal synchronizing pulses; At the -receiver,,-it--is de-. r

onl ziiig' ipulses. The resonant .cir bflsi f d wa f? d a d was my loosely o lejd to its exciting ode ray tube of the receiver with thoseg-of' the transmitter. At the ;-same time, theisweep pattern at" the receiver Lshould be; rea'scnably free from the effect of any noise 7 voltages which n ay the 5 present 911 a; g-reeeived signal and also-sum- -cientlystable that-synchronization is yery positive voltages; temperature and ghumidity, and rchanges inthe, amplitude' of the received signals. V p y It has always been-desiredto qbtain bothofthese iicfclsbf equal z ngsyn I w K 'characteristicsin asynchronizingcircuitof a-rewave et voltage, in t 1irn,' is use to trigger'a ceiver. -I-Iowever, itlms beenfou-nd thatcircuits lizbfifal "sweep generator sqthatthe sweep pat which provide stability so thatzsynchronization ofthe cathode iay'tubebf the ee iver' is n-y isretaineddesgite-wide vvariations .in-operating Y "m with that in the transmitter. conditions marefrequently adversely affected "by. I H r M noise lnaodulationsgpresent on a received signal." in oscillator triggeredloyrece Qnthe therE-hand; circuits whichprovidecor- "r'onizin uls'esprod'cesia s' ;.reotiens f ror noise modulations and [which are age which excite thehigh I I fairlyimmune thereto usually requirea consider- =40 'c1rcuit whi"ch produces; the sine vw e o ,able-time to obtain synchronization of the scan- In another modification," a mu :ning circuits of 1a cathode my tube of the irepl'oye'clto'eiicitethe'resonantcn .ceiver with the synchronizingvpulsesof the re- 'bjp'rs nt' S' fi l fi fi a il r u 7 rceivedsignali Likewise momentary interruptions pulses of twice the fuiidam'ent i rrequeney bl? ofathe signal in such circuits frequently causewa h PIii 5 loss of synchronization andrequ'iieappreciable my invent n, desire; t time rfor resynchronlzlngfl Itis very desirable, ointed out-inure therefore, to provide-improved, automatic con -H01Sf0lkt8l6ViSl0I-l receivers.Vvvhich areresponsive I to receive horizontalsynchronizingisigna which (50 understoodby the fo lowing descr' are substantially unaffected f by sjnchro gcomponents other than hor i-zo talsynchromziiig pulses, and which at in eam Ttime .i'et'ain syn .ohron iaation during widely varying operating conditions. J t f ;5

connection Withf'the'flrawings my t am trtl sbh afi illustrating the synchronizing pulses of a received television signal; and Fig. 3 is a, modification of oscillator 4 to produce an intermediate frequency wave which is amplified in an intermediate frequency amplifier 5 and detected'irf-a detectordto provide video frequency signals. The video frequency signals are amplifiedin. anlamplifi'erjfl and supplied to a cathode ray tube 8} or any other suitable image reproducing device.

trol circuit 9 to provide control voltages for a vertical scanning generator l ll and a horizontal scanninggenera'tor II., the generators lfl jaind. I!

li avin g output circuits "connected i the usual gnannerto 'r'ay deflecting"circuits of the cathode ray tube 8. v. a, f

. Inthe control circuitil a composite television signal having the 'form of the illustrated I signal I2 is supplied to the controlelectrode of anelectiii'nif. discharge, device [3 which operates'as the usual clipper tube to remove the picturemodulation components fromfthe composite television signal, reproducing across the anode resistor only. the synchronizing signals 55 in a polarity, oppositetdthatin whichthey appear in the com posite television signal 12. The negative synchron'izin lpulses l5 rare difierentiated in a dif- ,f er'entiating l circuit comprising a. capacitor and fa, resistance] I1 and are applied .7 through a capacitor I8- andthe transformer winding.19 to the, control electrode of an electron 'discharge der y'i'ce 20. which operates as a blocking oscillator discharge device. The blocking oscillator, is. conventional in form having a secondary winding]?! of .the transformer connected inits anodecircuit ,and coupled to-the -.primaryl.;winding I 9 -top fqy...

Vidqffeedback Iof energy from the output to the inputoircuit of the oscillator. In order to cause theprim'ary winding of the transformer to oper- .ateas, an vautotransformer to, reverse the phaseofrth e differentiated pulse whichissupplied to .the. 'control electrodev ofthe device; [so that [positive synchronizing pulses are supplied to this electrode, the ,primarywinding '19 has a center tap. 22 which is connectedto ground by a grid blocking. capacitor 23.; I providefmeans for adjusting the oscillation frequency of the blocking oscillator fwhichj comprises a, variablegrid leak ;gsji stal1q.e;. 24; connected 'acrossthe grid blocking Teapacitor. 23.. The time; constant of the input circuit may befadjusted by varying, the valuefof :the resistance.2 l.-by means of an arm] or variable contact 25. The discharge device, is supplied with operating potential through a. charging resistor 23 connected betweentheterminal. of secondary winding 2| opposite the terminal.connected'to ,the anode; of device!!! and a source. of operating potential illustrated as-the battery,.21,,, The jllnqtion between resistor 26and. thesecbndary wind ing 2 I is by -passedto the cathode of the discharge devicenZfl. by means of a capacitor 28} 1 J In operation. of the. blocking oscillator, the coi' trol electroderof. the device 20 is supplied with positive pulsesof voltage to initiatecurrent flow inthe dischargedevice 20. Whent hepositive ,pulse of voltageis applied to .the grid"of,devic'e 20. thepotentia'l'at the point of junction between The synchronizing signal components of 'the'video frequency signals are likewise utilized ina con.- 3

resistor 26 and the winding 2| is suddenly decreased to a minimum value, due to discharge of capacitor 28 in supplying oscillator anode current. Following the cessation of oscillation, the 5 potential at this junction point gradually rises as capacitor 28 is recharged from battery 21 through duced across I vo1tage 29, w-tooth Wave being coincident with the occurrence of the oscillatory state of device 20 and the slow charging portion of the saw-toothwave being caused by the gradual accumulation of charges across the con- "denserVZ S through the resistor 26. 15 The saw toothf wave of voltage 29 contains Fourier harmonic components according to the 'equ'ation Loi where: v

thiteeaa I e e i o a fl b s .mOnIQ n mberin question c nzamplitude of w th sine component, I t r H the wi aiv is f m by 1 1 3 .e EQbi sin +bzsin2+ .1. b sinmpl 91-pin -.0.92 sin.2+0.57 -.sin 3 In accordance with my invention/I'utilize the fundamental component from this Fourier series to provide astable' source of'horizontal synchronizingpote'ntials. To this end, the fundamental component is selected by the use one network connected across the'condenser '28 and comprisseries'resistance 30,b1ocling capacitor 3 I, and a shunt tunedcircuit comprising indnctance 32 and a" capacitor' 33 in shunt therewith. The resonant ircuit"32,"3'3 'istune'd' to the fllIida/ marital line or horizontal synchronizing frequen- 6y Whichjin'the conventionar black and "white television'system' in use today, is 15,750 cycles per second and a sinewave of voltage 34of this frequency isproduced between the upper terminal 'of the'tuned'circuitand ground. I

In order to utilize the sine wave of voltage-34 "ac'ross 'the;resonantcircuit for control purposes, an electron rectifier 35 and a load resista'nce36 are connected in series across thetu'n'ed :circuit'32, 33. lhe rectifier 35 has its cathode connected to the upper terminal of the tune'dcircuit' and its" anode connected'to the resistor 36 so that there is'pro- 'ducedacross the resistor '36 the'negative halves 3T of "the sinewave -34. I provide means for 'dif- 'fere'ntiating the negative half sine wave 31 which 'comprises'capacitor 38 and resistorSQ connected inseries across the resistor 36 toproduce a wave of potential 49 which consists of sharp negative and positive goingpulses M", 4; with the leading edge of f the negative"goi ng* pulse '4! coinciding with the leading" edge of theoriginal synchroniz- ,ihe pulse in'the wave I 5. The wave 4;: s supplied to'the'horizontalscanning generator 'll to form the'sawftooth wave of current used in the horizontal; "scanning. 4 of the television "picture tube. Yerticalsynchrpnizing pulses may be obtained :fromthe uppfir terminal ofresistance' M and are shown as supplied to the vertical'scanning gen era or l0 ir m this point.

tion inlay'fbe-imaintainedmiurine internals The .=inertic a-1 'asynchnonizing nuise in 9; Katie qk am eten e item e;

r of the actual phase error the pulse rate.

m nim c chronizing pulses fihe equa'lizingepuglsesi tnixtllmt are iifiollowed" aby a; .we fiticezlti synchronizing-v pulse whichriis z'b ioken up intousmeileintetveisiat :twiee line if turn, isfollowedeby;enothernseries oiuequeiizm pulses which i-precedeuthe next series 291 thQEiE W tat.synchmnizinginuisess 1 p itheeidjustment ei;1-the'zcii"mlitipf Eig- 111 11.1. arm #25 on resistance 24, whiehseontrpis the e: riods oi cenductism ,Dfj the tmoeking oscil tet tube zmzis adiusted sorethait this: evice 195. 51 en ductmtdheidoume :irequencs: meme which i the 1 -.equa1iz.ine .zfill i slotted n t nst ed the dericeye o fin llifii t 4 V euencyid terminedzhy t mentalsfr yiof the hori ont. Levi he Y pulses; Thus the .sewvwt0 th wer we: em:

b ltee hieh le resultis. binati'on with the synohllon' 8..P n@ wane to give rise to a ero ssnhefie error; therefore; the .-resenant circuit 2., wheehefiectse the thesine wave ene in .is notgnaterialiy-afififl c ted by random no se lseswhichanegneceived An ther v:xdvzmte that the sine wave, chronize'd with the pulses tower-ice a.- vent stebieisrstemi m e possible v 13vpi-"mziri nehlock neiosqilwith an abundance. of syn r nizin i ay heideneabecausenoiseir eeu t H s-fiEna srQQuir under widely starrin on when "'epronerl-ie -,:.edi li g centinuousir tQ-smohroniee time circuit of the horizontal 1s duced :by strongly synchronized zbioeking go tors are zultirnetelysmeethed Qu circuit. I"

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renieiee musese continuously without interruption and$hei d ette w r-t 3.311 meee d itpm them i esie: i1: is Q then the sine wave 5 34 sneer-white I mer -a Thus, at rnost, each singie saw turhs the resultant waye oft tooth aves 29. 1 n One of the advantegesjo the. u cu 9i is that the ilfi um y il -ip' 1??? w lev affected by random noise gul es the received television signal 'rcuit, i,

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ilt-1i 1? ba es V wan n 7E ingly, saw tooth waves of voltage 29* arleproduced across the condenser 52 by the action-of the multivibrator, causing the right-hand section to supply charging current to the capacitor 52 through resistor 49 subsequent to each discharge of this capacitor when pulses of voltage'at all-'- proximately the correct time spacingsrare "supe plied to the control electrode 45. The'*-proper adjustment of resistor 5| renders the multi'vibrator unresponsive to pulses occurring midway be tween fundamental pulses. The saw-toothwave of voltage 29 is applied through a, blocking'cm pacitor 53 and a series resistor 54 to a resonant or tuned circuit comprising an inductance 55 and capacitance 56, the mid point of'inductan'ce 55- being connected to ground; Through the excit ing action of the saw-tooth Wave of vo1tage'29,. thetuned circuit comprising elements 55, 56 produces a sine wave of voltage having a frequency equal to the fundamental frequency ofthe'horizontal synchronizing pulse. "Alternatively-"bf course, a pair of seriallyconnected' capacit/ances may be used in place of capacitance 56 and may have their common'terminalconnected to ground to replace the intermediate tap' ch -inductance 55. Y Thesine wave of voltage generated in the resonant circuit 55; 56 is suppliedinjreversephase to a, clipper amplifier electron discharge device 58 by connecting the control electrode of that device to the lower terminal of the resonantcircuit. The cathode of the device 58-is connected to ground through bias resistor 59 and partially by-passed to ground by a shunt capacitor 60 connected across resistor 59. Additional bias for'the cathode of the device'5B issup'plied by connecting the cathode'of the device'to the batteryZI through resistor 6l. 3 The anode of device 58 is supplied with operating potential from the same battery 21 through an'anod'e'resistance' 62. Negative synchronizing pulses of 'theiorm'indicated by the'legend 63 are availableat the anode of tube 58 and a r'e supplied to'a horizontaf'sca'nning generator such as the generator 1 l"of"Fig.*1 by coupling" such a, horizontal scanning gener a'tdr to the anode of device 58-through the capaci tor' 64. A return circuit for the controlelectrode of the clipper amplifier 58- i's 'provided-by means of a resistor 65 connected-betweenresistor 54 and ground.

It is tobe understood that the remaining ele; ments of the receiver employing the system o'f Fig. 3fmay be identical with-thoseshow'n in' bloclr form in the receiver of Fig. '1. Inthe operation of such areceiver, the control circuit ofjFignS is eifective to provide horizontalsynchronizing pulses which are effectively synchronizedwith the horizontal synchronizing pulses of a' received television signal and which are substantially free from the efiects of noise voltages pre'sent'o'nsuch a received signal. The multivibr'a'tor46functions as asaw-tooth' wave generator utilizing" the horizontal synchronizing pulses spaced at i a f undamental horizontal rate for triggering purposes. The repetition rate of the'multivibrator is' con"- trolled by adjustment of the rh'eostat 5l."-'-The resonant or tuned circuit 55, 55 is isub'stantially free running so that its' output is relatively'unaffected by any irregularities in the recurring saw-teeth of the wave 29 "which may b'e' caused by noise present on a received wave or an-y' 'othe'r undesired voltages. To this end, the tuned circuit '55, 56 has a relativelyhigh Q; th reactanc'e of the circuit being mu h greater than theresistance thereof." The series resistance 54 preferably likewise is rentivenuarge so that; man

purposes, the tank circuit 55, 56 is substantially weakly coupled to the multivibrator and has the effect of a free running flywheel the speed or frequency of the-oscillations of which initially is determined by the horizontal synchronizing pulsesandwhichis very little aifected byany sudden irregularity in such pulses. i In the circuit of Fig. 3,'the amplifier clipper 58has the advantage that it gives amplified output so'that the resultantsynchronizing Wave 63 is of relatively high voltage to provide more positiveand accuratesynchronization! To further enhance the-synchronizing efiect of the wave 63, by-pass capacitor 60 is so selected that theleading or negative going edge of'the wave 63 is steepened without afiecting to an appreciable amount the fundamental component of the wave. The device 58, with such choice of the value of the capacitor 60, has a selective degeneration emphasizing the higher frequency components in the output circuits'to increase'the steepnesso'f the' le'ading edge'of wave63. Resistors59g6l likewise are selected to provide essentiallycutoff'bias-for device 58. In this way, the plate current in the 'device58 flows in essentially half siiiewa'ves. I

" As'pointed out previously in'connection with thesyste'm' of Fig. 1, in the'usual television system, the voltagesupplied to the transmitterffor e iviri gjthe horizontal synchronizing frequency isrelatively stable and has Very little shift in frequency so that the saw-tooth wave 29 derived pulses.

from thereceived wave occurs at subs'tantially a constant repetition frequency and there is substantially no phase. shiftbetween' the sine wave and the transmitted" synchronizing. pulses over 7 a pe i od of'time. However; for use in receivers tuned to. receive signals from transmitters. in which there may be an ap reciable frequency shift in the;horizontal;synchronizing pulses, I provide a tunedcircuit comprising capacitor 61 and -inductancei "66; the .inductance B6 being loosely coupled to inductance 55 of ;the tank circuit of the control system of Fig. 3. The circuit 68, 66 functions to provide a small frequency range near the resonant frequency of the tank circuit 55, 56 wherein the phase angle remains essentially at zero despite changes in the mean rate of saw-tooth wave 29 over this small range. In this way, I prevent-any appreciable picture position shift with moderate changes in the transmitter mean frequency of 15,750 cycles per second wave of the horizontal synchronizing By way of illustration only and not in any sense by way of limitation, the following circuit constants are given for a pattern control circuit embodying'my invention and'utilizing the circuit of Fig. 3:

Clipper amplifier 58, 6J5G'T Capacitor 52, 510 mmf.

Capacitor 53, 910 mmf.

Capacitors [6, 5B, 250 mmf...

Inductance .20, Variable 290-430 mh.

Resistor I1, 2200 ohms Resistor 49; 24,000'ohms Resistor 5|,, 500,000 ohms Resistor.54,-330,000 ohms Resistances 59, 62, 8200 ohmse'ach Resistor 6|, 150,000 ohms Capacitor 60, 0.003 mfd. Whilein the foregoing description, I- have'described and illustrated modifications iemployin'g .pulses of twice the fundamental of my invention, therefore, various modifications may both a blocking oscillator v for exciting thehigh quality. resonant circuit and a multivibrator I the operation of said oscillator to produce periodic waves of voltage having a frequency which provides a stable source of sine wave of voltage of the frequency desired for triggeringthe horizontal sweep circuits of the cathode ray tube of the receiver, it is apparent that other types of circuits maybe employed for this purpose. One of the important features of all such circuits is that they be non-responsive to interposed, frequency of the horizontal synchronizing pulses present in the transmitted wave and'that, while providing excitation for the sine wave of this fundamental frequency, they be sufficiently loosely'coupled to the resonant circuit that the resonance frequency of that circuit is substantially unaffected by any sudden irregularities in the fundamental frequency which may be produced by noise present with the received television signals or other transient voltage effects.

While I have shown particular embodiments it is apparent that be made, and it'will be understood that I do notwish to be limited to the specific embodiments shown'but contemplate by the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of my invention. v

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a receiver fortelevision signals including horizontal synchronizing pulses, a multivibrator, means utilizing said pulses to operate said multivibrator to produce'asaw-tooth wave of voltage of a frequency equal to the fundamental frea resonant circuit excited by said voltage to resonate at said fundamental frequency, said circuit having a ratio ofreact ance to resistancesufiiciently large, that noise quency of said pulses,

voltages received with said signals have no appreciable effect on the frequency of the oscillations produced therein, means utilizing said sinusoidal said receiver.

Wave of voltage for controlling the operation of said'receiver, and means coupled to said resonant circuit for maintaining said sinusoidal wave of voltage in phase with said horizontal synchronizing pulses as the phase of said synchronizing pulses is shifted.

2. In a receiver for television signals including horizontal synchronizing pulses, a synchronizing circuit comprising a first resonant circuit excited by said pulses to produce oscillations of the frequency of the fundamental frequency of said pulses, the ratio of the energy stored in said first resonant circuit to the energy dissipated therein tion of said receiver.

being such that oscillations of said frequency are maintained therein in the presence of irregularities in said pulses, a, second resonant circuit coupled to'said first resonant circuit for main-'- 'taining a predetermined time relation between said oscillations and said synchronizing pulses as the phase of said synchronizing pulses is shifted, and means for deriving from said produced oscillations a scanning wave form for said receiver.

3. In a receiverfor television signals including horizontal synchronizing pulses, a relaxation oscillator, means utilizing said pulses to control equal to" the fundamental frequency of said pulses, means responsive to said waves for producing a sinusoidal wave of voltage of said frequencies, means coupled to said sinusoidal producing means for maintaining a predetermined time relation between said sinusoidal Wave of voltage and said synchronizingrpulses as the phase of said synchronizing pulses is shifted, and means utilizing said sinusoidal wave of voltage "for controlling the operation of said receiver,

4. In a receiver for television signals including horizontal synchronizing pulses interrupted by equalizing pulses, a relaxation device, means utilizing said horizontal synchronizing pulses to control the operation of said deviceto produce a periodic wave of voltage of a frequency equal to the fundamental frequency of said horizontal synchronizing pulses, said device including" a time delay circuit of such durationthat the operation of said device is not affected by said,

equalizing pulses, means responsive to said voltage forproducing a sinusoidal wave of voltage'of said frequency, means coupled to said sinusoidal producing means for maintaining a predeter mined time relation between said sinusoidal wave of voltage and said horizontal synchronizing pulses as the phase of said synchronizing pulses is shifted, and means utilizing said sinusoidal wave of voltage for controlling the-operation of 5. In a receiver for television signals including horizontal synchronizingpulses interrupted by equalizing pulses, a relaxation oscillator, means synchronizing pulses to control the operation of said oscillatorto proutilizing said horizontal duce a saw-toothwave of voltage of a frequency equal to the fundamental frequency of the horizontal synchronizing pulses, said oscillator including a circuit for producing a time delay of such duration that the operation of said oscillator is not affected by said equalizing pulses, means responsive to said voltage for producing a sinusoidal wave of voltage, said means including a resonant circuit, means coupled to said sinusoidal voltage producing'means for'maintaining a desired timerelation between said sinusoidal wave ofvoltage and said horizontal synchronizing pulses comprising a second resonant circuit havinga loose coupling with said first resonant circuit, and means utilizing said sinuse oidal' wave of voltage for controlling the opera- ROBERT B. DO

REFERENCES CITED The, following references are of record in file of this patent: g

- UNITED STATES PATENT-SQ the Number Name Date 2,231,792 Bingley Feb. 11, 1941 2,277,000 Bingley Mar. .17, 19.42 2,350,536 Schlesinger June 6, 1944 2,460,112 Wright Jan. 25, 1949 

